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Home > Statistics & Research > Child Welfare Outcomes 2000 > Pennsylvania

 

Child Welfare Outcomes 2000: Annual Report
Chapter IV - State Data

Context Data | Outcomes Data | State Comment | Federal Comment
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Pennsylvania [ Context Data ]

A. Key Context Statistics

General Population	1998	1999	2000
Total children under 18 years	2,859,828	2,852,520	2,922,221
Race/ethnicity (%)1
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.1	0.1	0.1
Asian/Pacific Islander	2.0	2.1	1.9
Black	12.1	12.2	12.7
Hispanic	4.1	4.3	5.1
White	81.6	81.3	78.2
Two or more races	N/A	N/A	1.8
Other	N/A	N/A	0.2
% Child population in poverty	17.9	12.8	10.6
% Child population living in metropolitan areas	84.8	90.0	84.8

 

Child Welfare	1998	1999	2000
Child maltreatment victims	5,392	5,076	5,002
Children in foster care on 9/30	23,070	22,690	21,631
Children adopted	1,516	1,454	1,712

1) The 2000 Census of the United States includes two new race catagories: (1) Persons of two or more races and (2) Other. Back

 

B. Child Maltreatment Data (NCANDS)

	Number			Rate
Maltreatment Information Overview	1998	1999	2000	1998	1998	2000
Children subject of an investigated report alleging child maltreatment	22,589	22,437	22,694	7.9 per 1,000	7.9 per 1,000	7.8 per 1,000
Child maltreatment victims2	5,392	5,076	5,002	1.9 per 1,000	1.8 per 1,000	1.7 per 1,000
Child fatalities	52	50	38	1.8 per 100,000	1.8 per 100,000	1.3 per 100,000

 

Age of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Under 1 year	3.1	0.6	5.6
1-5 years	22.5	21.0	21.5
6-10 years	30.5	28.3	29.4
11-15 years	32.1	32.5	32.8
16+ years	11.8	17.6	10.5
Unknown	-	-	0.2
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	5,392	5,076	5,002

 

Race/Ethnicity of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	-	-	-
Asian/Pacific Islander	-	-	-
Black	-	-	-
Hispanic	-	-	-
White	-	-	-
Two or more races	N/A	N/A	-
Other/Unknown	-	-	-
Total %3	-	-	-
Number	-	-	-

 

Maltreatment Type of Child Victims (%)	1998	1999	2000
Emotional abuse	1.9	2.0	2.0
Medical neglect	2.8	2.4	2.9
Neglect	3.8	3.8	3.6
Physical abuse	41.1	62.1	37.6
Sexual abuse	46.4	80.4	49.9
Other	5.8	1.8	6.3
Unknown	-	-	0.0
Total %4	101.8	152.5	102.5
Number	5,392	5,076	5,002

2) Children with more than one report of substantiated or indicated maltreatment may be counted more than once. Back
3) Percentages may total more than 100 percent because Hispanics may be counted both by Hispanic ethnicity and by race. Back
4) Percentages may total more than 100 percent because children could have been victims of more than one type of maltreatment. Back

C. Children in Foster Care
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)

Number of Children	In Care on 10/1	Entered Care	Exited Care	In Care on 9/30	Total Served
FY1998 (10/1/97-9/30/98)	20,983	13,019	10,933	23,070	34,002
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	21,809	13,299	12,419	22,690	35,108
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00)	21,322	12,235	11,926	21,631	33,557
Median Length of Stay (Months)
FY1998 (10/1/97-9/30/98)	23.6	N/A	10.4	19.6	N/A
FY1999 (10/1/98-9/30/99)	20.5	N/A	10.3	19.2	N/A
FY2000 (10/1/99-9/30/00)	20.3	N/A	10.5	19.9	N/A

 

Age of Children in Foster Care (%)	In Care on 10/1/97	In Care on 10/1/98	In Care on 10/1/99	Entered Care During FY 1998	Entered Care During FY 1999	Entered Care During FY 2000	Exited Care During FY 1998	Exited Care During FY 1999	Exited Care During FY 2000	In Care on 9/30/98	In Care on 9/30/99	In Care on 9/30/00
Under 1 year	3.5	3.4	3.4	11.4	10.7	10.6	3.4	3.1	3.4	4.0	3.9	3.2
1-5 years	22.8	21.1	21.0	18.8	18.8	18.5	20.0	18.9	18.6	21.3	20.5	20.5
6-10 years	25.0	23.9	24.2	16.2	16.8	17.0	17.6	16.7	17.5	23.3	23.4	23.3
11-15 years	30.0	30.7	31.6	34.4	34.6	36.2	27.3	26.9	27.7	30.3	31.3	33.1
16-18 years	17.5	19.5	18.3	19.1	18.9	17.6	29.2	31.6	30.1	19.5	19.3	18.4
19+ years	1.2	1.4	1.5	0.1	0.1	0.1	2.5	2.6	2.5	1.4	1.5	1.5
Unknown	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.0
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	20,983	21,809	21,322	13,019	13,299	12,235	10,933	12,419	11,926	23,070	22,690	21,631

 

Race/Ethnicity of Children in Foster Care (%)5	In Care on 10/1/97	In Care on 10/1/98	In Care on 10/1/99	Entered Care During FY 1998	Entered Care During FY 1999	Entered Care During FY 2000	Exited Care During FY 1998	Exited Care During FY 1999	Exited Care During FY 2000	In Care on 9/30/98	In Care on 9/30/99	In Care on 9/30/00
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.4	0.5	0.5	0.7	0.7	0.3	0.5	0.7	0.5	0.6	0.5	0.4
Black	54.5	52.4	53.3	41.4	40.9	40.2	43.8	42.6	42.9	52.2	51.0	51.6
Hispanic	9.7	10.7	8.5	11.0	11.1	9.2	9.6	10.5	8.2	10.5	11.0	9.1
White	34.8	36.0	37.3	46.3	46.9	49.4	45.5	45.6	47.7	36.2	37.1	38.4
Two or more races	-	-	-	-	-	0.1	-	-	0.0	-	-	0.0
Unknown	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.4	0.4	0.7	0.5	0.4	0.6	0.4	0.3	0.3
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	20,983	21,809	21,322	13,019	13,299	12,235	10,933	12,419	11,926	23,070	22,690	21,631

 

5) In this and subsequent race/ethnicity tables, data for two or more races may be provided for 1998 and 1999 because of States' resubmissions. However, data for 1998 and 1999 may not capture all children of two or more races and therefore may not be comparable to the 2000 data pertaining to two or more races. Back

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D. Children Waiting to Be Adopted
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)⁶

 

Overview	9/30/98	9/30/99	9/30/00
Children waiting to be adopted	4,768	4,891	5,210
Children whose parents' rights have been terminated (TPR)	739	846	1,008

 

Age of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Under 1 year	2.6	2.1	1.6
1-5 years	35.9	32.1	30.6
6-10 years	37.2	37.5	36.7
11-15 years	20.7	24.1	26.4
16+ years	3.3	3.6	4.0
Unknown	0.4	0.6	0.7
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	4,768	4,891	5,210

 

Race/Ethnicity of Waiting Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.0	0.0	0.1
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.4	0.4	0.5
Black	58.2	54.3	57.2
Hispanic	11.1	12.4	9.5
White	29.7	32.4	32.3
Two or more races	-	-	0.0
Unknown	0.5	0.4	0.4
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	4,768	4,891	5,210

6) Waiting children are children who have a goal of adoption and/or whose parents’ rights have been terminated. Children 16 years and older with TPR, but with a goal of emancipation, have been excluded from the waiting children and TPR populations. Back

E. Children Adopted
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)

 

Age of Adopted Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Under 1 year	0.8	1.0	0.6
1-5 years	44.2	43.6	40.3
6-10 years	38.9	38.2	38.5
11-15 years	14.2	14.9	18.0
16+ years	2.0	2.3	2.5
Unknown	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,516	1,454	1,712

 

Race/Ethnicity of Adopted Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Alaska Native/American Indian	0.1	0.1	0.1
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.2	0.1	0.2
Black	62.1	57.4	55.6
Hispanic	4.6	4.7	6.5
White	30.3	36.5	37.0
Two or more races	-	-	-
Unknown	2.7	1.2	0.6
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,516	1,454	1,712

 

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Pennsylvania [ Outcomes Data ]

 

1. Reduce Recurrence of Child Abuse and/or Neglect
(NCANDS)

1.1 Recurrence of Maltreatment Within 6 Months (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children without a recurrence	97.2	97.5	96.5
Children with one or more recurrences	2.8	2.5	3.5
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	2,755	2,522	2,606

 

 

2. Reduce the Incidence of Child Abuse and/or Neglect in Foster Care
(NCANDS, AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database Jan —Sept)

2.1 Maltreatment in Foster Care (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children maltreated while in foster care	-	-	0.2
Children not maltreated while in foster care	-	-	99.8
Total %	-	-	100.0
Number	-	-	30,739

 

 

3. Increase Permanency for Children in Foster Care
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)

3.1 Exits from Foster Care (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	12.1	12.4	13.9
Guardianship	1.0	1.0	1.1
Reunification	70.9	71.2	70.8
Other	15.4	15.0	14.0
Missing data	0.6	0.3	0.2
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	10,933	12,419	11,926

 

 

3.2 Exits of Disabled Children (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	14.9	16.7	19.4
Guardianship	1.3	1.3	1.8
Reunification	64.8	60.3	58.7
Other	18.9	21.6	20.0
Missing data	0.1	0.1	0.1
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	2,035	2,526	2,396

 

3.3 Exits of Children Over Age 12 at Entry (%)	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	0.2	0.2	0.5
Guardianship	1.1	1.0	0.9
Reunification	75.9	77.0	77.6
Other	21.8	21.3	20.6
Missing data	1.0	0.5	0.3
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	4,688	5,761	5,295

 

3.4 Exits to Emancipation (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children age 12 or younger at entry	33.8	30.6	31.5
Children older than 12 at entry	66.1	68.9	68.5
Missing data	0.2	0.4	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	634	702	688

 

3.5 Exits by Race/Ethnicity (%)	Alaska Native/A.I.			Asian/P.I.			Black			Hispanic
	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	9.1	-	12.5	7.8	3.3	6.6	16.0	16.4	17.1	12.4	10.0	13.8
Guardianship	-	-	12.5	-	-	-	0.9	1.1	1.4	1.0	1.2	1.0
Reunification	81.8	87.5	75.0	62.7	71.7	68.9	63.8	64.2	64.6	64.3	68.9	68.3
Other	9.1	12.5	-	27.5	25.0	24.6	18.3	17.9	16.7	21.1	19.5	16.7
Missing data	-	-	-	2.0	-	-	1.0	0.4	0.3	1.1	0.4	0.2
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	11	16	8	51	92	61	4,793	5,296	5,116	1,050	1,302	978
	White			Unable to Determine			Two or More Races			Missing Data
	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000	1998	1999	2000
Adoption	8.4	9.5	11.1	5.3	13.3	14.5	-	-	-	-	-	-
Guardianship	1.0	0.9	0.9	1.8	2.2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Reunification	79.2	78.2	76.8	82.5	77.8	73.7	-	-	100.0	-	-	-
Other	11.3	11.2	11.1	10.5	6.7	10.5	-	-	-	-	-	-
Missing data	0.2	0.2	0.2	-	-	1.3	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total %	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	-	-	100.0	-	-	-
Number	4,971	5,668	5,686	57	45	76	-	-	1	-	-	-

 

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4. Reduce Time to Reunification Without Increasing Re-entry
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)

4.1 Time to Reunification (%)	1998	1999	2000
Less than 12 mos.	66.3	67.1	67.7
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	16.5	19.7	18.9
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	7.0	5.6	5.4
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	3.8	2.5	2.8
48 or more mos.	6.0	4.7	4.9
Missing data	0.4	0.4	0.3
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	7,754	8,844	8,443

 

 

4.2 Children Who Entered Foster Care (%)	1998	1999	2000
Children entering care for the first time	77.7	74.6	71.8
Children re-entering care within 12 mos. of a prior episode	15.5	18.0	19.3
Children re-entering care more than 12 mos. after a prior episode	5.4	7.2	8.7
Missing data	1.4	0.2	0.1
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	13,019	13,299	12,235

 

 

5. Reduce Time in Foster Care to Adoption
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)

5.1 Time to Adoption (%)	1998	1999	2000
Less than 12 mos.	2.0	2.3	2.1
At least 12 mos., but less than 24 mos.	10.3	15.2	14.3
At least 24 mos., but less than 36 mos.	18.4	21.1	24.8
At least 36 mos., but less than 48 mos.	21.1	18.1	19.6
48 or more mos.	48.3	43.4	39.2
Missing data	-	-	-
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	1,324	1,543	1,655

 

 

6. Increase Placement Stability
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)

6.1 Number of Placements by Time in Care (%)	Year	Children With 2 or Fewer Placements	Children With 3 or More Placements	Missing Data	Total %	Number
Less than 12 mos.	1998 1999 2000	85.6 85.1 84.2	13.5 14.9 15.8	0.9 0.0 0.0	100.0 100.0 100.0	14,556 15,210 14,127
At least 12 mos., but <24 mos.	1998 1999 2000	66.1 65.3 62.5	33.7 34.7 37.5	0.2 - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	5,725 6,593 6,415
At least 24 mos., but <36 mos.	1998 1999 2000	55.2 55.4 54.2	44.8 44.6 45.8	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	3,646 3,695 3,784
At least 36 mos., but <48 mos.	1998 1999 2000	48.8 48.8 48.4	51.2 51.2 51.6	- - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	2,655 2,466 2,417
48 or more mos.	1998 1999 2000	37.5 35.2 32.7	62.4 64.7 67.2	0.0 0.0 0.0	100.0 100.0 100.0	7,342 7,050 6,772
Missing data	1998 1999 2000	89.7 96.8 100.0	5.1 3.2 -	5.1 - -	100.0 100.0 100.0	78 94 42

 

 

7. Reduce Placements of Young Children in Group Homes or Institutions
(AFCARS Annual Foster Care Database)

7.1 Most Recent Placement Settings of Children Who Entered Care During the Fiscal Year and Were Age 12 or Younger at the Time of This Placement (%)	1998	1999	2000
Group homes	4.4	4.3	3.8
Institutions	9.5	8.5	8.9
Other settings	86.1	87.2	87.3
Missing data	-	-	-
Total (%)	100.0	100.0	100.0
Number	6,856	6,987	6,549

 

Pennsylvania [ State Comment ]

Wayne Stevenson, Deputy Secretary
Office of Children, Youth and Families
Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare
717-787-4756

Pennsylvania's comments on State data for the Child Welfare Outcomes 2000: Annual Report are the following:

Data on the race/ethnicity of child maltreatment victims are not available because Pennsylvania's Child Protective Services Law prohibits the collection of this information.

Data required for the calculation of the incidence of child maltreatment in foster care (outcome measure 2.1) were not available for 1998 and 1999.

AFCARS data indicate that there were fewer children in care on October 1, 1998 than on September 30, 1998 and on October 1, 1999 than September 30,1999. We believe this is due to:

• The way the federal data files are constructed to include only a child's most recent placement episode; and
• The fact that AFCARS element 21 (Date of latest removal from home) can change from episode to episode. For example, a child removed from home on August 10,1998 and discharged from placement on December 10, 1998 would be counted as in placement on 9/30/98. If the same child was again removed from home on January 10, 1999, he would not be counted on 10/1/1998 even though he was in care at that time.

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Pennsylvania [ Federal Comment ]

The following discussion focuses on Pennsylvania?s performance with regard to each of the outcomes assessed in the Child Welfare Outcomes Annual Reports to Congress. Information from the State?s Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) Final Report is used to provide a context for interpreting the State?s performance (the Pennsylvania CFSR was conducted in FY 2002). Because data reported in the State Data Pages do not address child well-being issues, the last section of this discussion provides information from the CFSR Final Report relevant to the State?s performance in meeting children?s educational and physical and mental health needs.

Outcome 1. Reduce recurrence of child abuse and/or neglect
In calendar year (CY) 2000, Pennsylvania?s rate of maltreatment recurrence within 6 months was 3.5 percent, which is lower than both the national standard of 6.1 percent and the national median of 7.9 percent. However, it is important to note that most reports of child neglect, including environmental concerns and lack of supervision, are not considered “child maltreatment” in Pennsylvania and therefore are not reported to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS). The State is unique in this approach to reports involving child neglect. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that the agency practice of conducting risk assessments on an ongoing basis may contribute to the prevention of maltreatment recurrence.

Outcome 2. Reduce the incidence of child abuse and/or neglect in foster care
In CY 2000, the incidence of maltreatment in foster care was 0.2 percent, which is lower than both the national standard of 0.57 percent and the national median of 0.47 percent. Information from the CFSR Final Report identifies the following as potential reasons for the low incidence of maltreatment in foster care: (1) comprehensive standards for foster family homes and child care institutions, (2) routine monitoring of foster family homes and child care institutions for compliance with State standards, and (3) routine implementation of criminal background checks for all foster parents.

Outcome 3. Increase permanency for children in foster care
In fiscal year (FY) 2000, 85.8 percent of children exiting foster care were discharged to permanent homes (which is higher than the national median of 84.7), 79.9 percent of children with a diagnosed disability exiting foster care were discharged to permanent homes (which is higher than the national median of 79.5 percent), and 79.0 percent of children exiting foster care who were older than age 12 at entry into foster care were discharge to permanency homes (which is higher than the national median of 72.6). These findings suggest that the State is generally effective in achieving permanency for children. Information from the CFSR Final Report suggests that this effectiveness may be attributed to the following: (1) the availability of a subsidized guardianship permanency option; (2) agency efforts to implement special approaches to permanency, such as permanency roundtables and specialized reunification units; and (3) timely administrative reviews and permanency hearings, due primarily to increased judicial resources. Despite these findings, however, 31.5 percent of children exiting foster care through emancipation were age 12 or younger at the time of entry, which is higher than the national median of 24.2 percent. This suggests that the State is not consistently effective in ensuring that children who enter foster care at relatively young ages do not “grow up” in the system.

Outcome 4. Reduce time to reunification without increasing re-entry
In FY 2000, the percentage of all reported reunifications occurring within 12 months of children?s entry into foster care was 67.7, which is lower than both the national standard of 76.2 percent and the national median of 68.0 percent. However, according to the CFSR Final Report, the court does not permit transfer of custody until a child has been physically reunified with the family for 6 months. Therefore, many children may be physically reunified within 12 months, but this would not be reported to the Adoption Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) because the State maintains care and supervision responsibility. Information from the CFSR Final Report identifies the following as potential barriers to achieving reunifications in a timely manner: (1) placement of children in foster care in some cases in locations that are far away from parents and therefore prevent frequent parent-child visits, and (2) insufficient contact between caseworkers and parents to promote reunification.

Also in FY 2000, the percentage of children re-entering foster care within 12 months of discharge from a prior foster care episode was 19.3, which is higher than the national standard of 8.6 percent and the national median of 10.3 percent. According to information provided in the CFSR Final Report, the State has found that children between the ages of 10 and 13 are more likely than children in any other age group to experience a re-entry into foster care. The Final Report notes that the State recommends a specific focus on the developmental needs of children in this age group to achieve an understanding of why they may be re-entering foster care.

Outcome 5. Reduce time in foster care to adoption
In FY 2000, the percentage of all finalized adoptions occurring within 24 months of the child?s entry into foster care was 16.4, which is lower than both the national standard of 32.0 percent and the national median of 19.7 percent. Information from the CFSR Final Report identifies the following as potential barriers to achieving adoptions in a timely manner: (1) agency delays in changing goals from reunification to adoption, filing for termination of parental rights (TPR), conducting home studies, and searching for absent parents; (2) court-related delays due to crowded court dockets and TPR appeals; and (3) the attitude of both court and agency personnel that some children are “unadoptable.”

Outcome 6. Increase placement stability
In FY 2000, the percentage of children who experienced no more than 2 placements during their first 12 months in foster care was 84.2, which is lower than the national standard of 86.7 percent, but about equal to the national median of 84.3. According to information provided in the CFSR Final Report, the State believes that the data on placement stability is due to the large percentage of older children in foster care and children entering care due to their own behavior problems.

Outcome 7. Reduce placements of young children in group homes and institutions
In FY 2000, the percentage of children age 12 or younger placed in a group home or institution was 12.7, which is higher than the national median of 9.0. There is no information in the CFSR Final Report that explains the high percentage of young children placed in group homes and institutions.

Child well-being outcomes
With respect to child well-being, information in the CSFR Final Report indicates that the State is generally effective in meeting children?s physical health needs but is less consistently effective in meeting children?s educational and mental health needs. The following were identified in the final report as potential barriers to meeting these needs: (1) a failure in some cases to provide educational services to address identified needs, (2) inadequate assessments of children?s mental health needs, and (3) a lack of sufficient mental health services for families.

 

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